the post-Emmanuel Macron era is already on people’s minds

The parliamentary days of the Ensemble pour la République group open on Tuesday, September 10, near Paris, with troops who are freeing themselves from Emmanuel Macron. This is the other cohabitation that begins for the head of state. The one that the surviving deputies from his camp will now inflict on him. Most of them blame him for having sent them to the slaughter with a suicidal dissolution and they are convinced that they saved their skin not thanks to, but in spite of Emmanuel Macron. For having worked hard during the campaign and ultimately saved the furniture, Gabriel Attal is one of the few to find favor in their eyes. As a result, he seized the reins of this group of 99 deputies without a fight and should try to conquer the party at the end of 2024.

Michel Barnier could be the victim of this cohabitation. This was evident from the frosty reception Renaissance gave him in a terse press release: “No automatic censorship, but demands on the substance, without a blank check”, has thrown out the party created by… Emmanuel Macron. “Neither a desire to block nor unconditional support”, added Gabriel Attal in a message to the deputies of his group. Michel Barnier will go to meet these deputies on Tuesday evening at the end of the day. History of smoothing out these tensions and establishing a sort of modus vivendi. Even if, on Gabriel Attal’s side, there is also a bit of pomposity and a fair bit of staging.

There will be Renaissance ministers in the government and Gabriel Attal is condemned to support his successor. He is angry, we saw that again with his long, slightly narcissistic speech during the transfer of power at Matignon. His relations with Emmanuel Macron are reduced to nothing, but he cannot be the one to bring down the government under penalty of bearing the burden of a betrayal that could shorten Emmanuel Macron’s term. On this ground, he has a lot to do with Édouard Philippe who already says he is ready for an early presidential election. In fact, more than an organized rebellion, the head of state can fear the indiscipline and disintegration of his camp, depending on the texts that the Barnier government will present. His deputies are setting up their own businesses. The “start-up nation” has transformed itself into a group of self-entrepreneurs. Elected officials more concerned with saving their skin in the event of dissolution next year than with protecting the future of their former leader. In short, deputies who have already entered the post-Macron era.